Rare indeed will be the gamer who does not immediately recognize this title’s debt to the weird fiction of H.P. Lovecraft. The plot owes much to Lovecraft, too, with its strange cult, monsters from the depths of the Atlantic, and all that. True fans will catch more allusions (Pickman Ave., the cats’ strange behavior), deepening their enjoyment of the scenario. The adventure itself reads like a lot of fun (I have not had a chance to run the scenario, so this judgment is based on my enjoyment in reading it), but it’s really rather linear and presumes that the heroes reach various milestones in a fairly specific order. If the players are having fun, though, they shouldn’t mind too much.

The module could stand some additional editing. The author and editor should take some time to review comma usage (many sentences lack needed commas), and should repeat “a couple OF, a couple OF” as a mantra once for each brainwash Dunsmouth “cultist” in the scenario. There are also some layout oddities that should be avoided, such as extra leading on the last line of section-ending paragraphs. The inclusion of italic Helvetica and bold italic Times among the comic-book fonts really jars the eye, even the eye untrained in typography (which will find the combinations positively revolting). Also, better coordination between the authors of Adamant’s ICONS modules and artist Dan Houser seems necessary; in “Danger in Dunsmouth,” a key object is described as having a sapphire at its center, but the illustration shows a red gem (and this isn’t the first Adamant module in which the text contradicts the artwork); another gem pictured as red is described in the text as an emerald. Otherwise, Hauser’s art brings additional spark to the module.